The Pune District Chess Association (PDCA) on Thursday announced an award of Rs 10 lakh for the 20-year-old Soumya Swaminathan, the first girl from the city to win the junior world chess championship.

After she won the national chess title last year, Soumya was promised an award of Rs 5 lakh by the state government. However, she has not received this amount till date.

When the PDCA contacted MP Suresh Kalmadi, he promised to take up the matter and said she would receive the promised reward.

Swaminathan has faced sponsorship problems in the past and this award will help her immensely. She had received a scholarship of Rs 5,000 for a period of three years from the Indian Oil Corporation but that was nowhere near what she required to play at her level. “Soumya needs sponsorships of up to Rs 5 lakh for Grandmaster training and foreign exposure and this will go a long way in helping her”, said Abhijit Kunte, the city's first Grandmaster. "Earlier, she could only participate in a few foreign invitational tournaments", he added.

Swaminathan, a commerce student at BMCC here, took a liking to chess when she used to play casual games with her grandfather in her early years. She started training under Aurangabad-based Anjali Palande at the age of seven. Later, she shifted to Pune and trained under Arun Vaidya before joining the Abhijit Kunte Academy.

Since then, she has won several national titles including the national U-17 in 2004, and the national junior titles in 2005 and 2008. She will be given the award on Sunday at Patrakar Sangh here.